Importance of the Sustainability Accounting-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Importance of the Sustainability Accounting and the Sustainability Reporting. Answer: Introduction Sustainability accounting and the sustainability reporting has the very crucial role in the development of every activity. Corporations play the major area in contributing towards the economic, social and the environmental well being of the country. The main aim of the report is to identify as to how the professional bodies like the Association of the Chartered Accountants or Certified Public Accountant etc. have considered it. With this aim, the report has been started with the executive summary. Then the meaning and the importance of the sustainability reporting and sustainability accounting has been dealt with. After that, the role and the responses of the professional bodies towards both of the concepts have been detailed. For achieving the purpose of the report, CPA and CA Australia as professional organizations have been considered. The report has then ended up with the concluding paragraph and also giving the recommendation. Sustainability Accounting And Reporting The word sustainable is originated from the word sustain which means which can run for perpetuity and survive in long run. Sustainable is the concept which itself balances the need of having the growth in economic terms along with the protection of environment and the equity in society as also equal distribution of wealth in the society. The two words sustainability reporting and the sustainability accounting are related to the corporate and details as to how the corporate complete the responsibility towards the economic growth, environment and the society of the country in which the particular company is operating (Gray 2006 and Hopwood 2009). The concept of sustainability accounting has been originated around twenty years back in Europe. It is considered and has been regarded as the part of the financial accounting and along with that it delivers the non financial information to the internal and external stakeholders of the corporations which help the companies to develop the reput ation in the market and helps in securing the future of the company (Bebbington, Higgins Frame 2009). Sustainability accounting has been used as the accounting measurement by the companies across the globe to become more sustainable. This new concept has linked the strategies of the management of the company with the board and financial accounting and also with the reporting practices being done and followed by the corporate. Sustainability reporting is the new approach of reporting which provides the formal way of communicating the information of the company towards the importance of sustainability. Now the companies can have their sustainability rating using the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Cooper Owen 2007 and Lodhia 2013). The global reporting initiative has developed the guidelines for the sustainability reporting. The major purpose underlined by the global reporting initiative while describing the guidelines is that the sustainability report should provide a balanced and proper presentation of the performance of the company which is essential and the presentation shall include both negative as well as the positive contributions. The report includes the strategy that the company has adopted and the working profile. Then the approach made by the management is disclosed. The way is related to the conduct of the business and how far it affects the environment, interest of the stakeholders and the society (De Villiers, Rinaldi Unerman 2014 and Eccles, Krzus, Rogers and Serafeim, 2012.). The last content of the report is the indicators of the performance of the company in financial terms. In this manner, the corporate sustainability accounting and reporting have led the companies to disclose all the matters in correct and fair manner. Cpa And Ca Australia Response The professional bodies have played the dynamic role in the new and emerging area of the Sustainability reporting and the sustainability accounting. They have given the positive response towards the upcoming area of the sustainable reporting and accounting. In this, the role of the professional bodies has been increased and strengthens gradually over the years. It is because the sustainability accounting and the reporting as already discussed have provided the way for the companies to give the details about the environment, social and the economic effect that has been generated during the reporting period. The role of the professional bodies has been greatly acknowledged as they have started following the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (Lodhia, 2012). In the given case, the response of two professional bodies CPA and CA Australia has been detailed. Both the bodies give certificates to the professionals who certify the financial statements of the companies. Both the organizations have made it mandatory for the auditor to check the contents of the sustainability report as part of the annual report and also they are liable to check whether the companies are complying with the guidelines issues by the Global Reporting Initiative and also whether they are disclosing the relevant facts and figures in the correct manner. The figures mentioned in the sustainability report are also verified with the financial statements. The whole process is done to ensure that the information received by the internal as well as the external stakeholders are beneficial to them and help them to take effective and efficient decision. (Rinaldi, Unerman Tilt 2014 and Ball, Owen, and Gray, 2010). Another response that the professional bodies have given is that the CPA Australia and the CA Australia has supported the emergence of the sustainability accounting and reporting in the positive sense and has accepted it in lawful spirit. Following has been the drivers for the professional bodies to include the sustainability reporting in the annual report of the company (Parkin, 2003): Cost Reduction The Company will be able to reduce its cost and increase the efficiency of the resources by identifying the measures on the regular basis as to how the cost of the company can be reduced in terms of the environment and the society (Frost, 2005) Governance With the introduction of the sustainability report, the corporate governance of the company will be in total changed in regard to its functions and the procedures and the professional bodies will be more inclined as to assessee whether the company is having good corporate governance practices or not. Risk Management The sustainability reporting also helps the professional bodies to know the risk areas and suggest the company with the methods to mitigate the risks. In this manner, the professional bodies have reacted to sustainability accounting and reporting. Conclusion Sustainability accounting and reporting is regarded as the significant triggers for the management of corporations to gear up with the corporate sustainability. It facilitates the correct reporting to the internal as well as the external stakeholders and explains how the company has been striving for maintaining the performance to achieve the goal of sustainable development. In this objective, the professional bodies have played major role in providing the guidance notes for the professionals as to how the same is required to be complied with. To conclude the report has brought up with emerging concept and explained the role of professional bodies in it. It is recommended to have the sustainability accounting and reporting as the core objective of the companies as the same helps the company to survive in the market and the role of professionals in the same shall be duly acknowledged. References Bebbington, J, Higgins, C Frame, B 2009,Initiating sustainable development reporting: evidence from New Zealand, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal,vol22, no. 4, pp. 588-625. Ball, A., Owen, D.L. and Gray, R., 2010. External transparency or internal capture? The role of third?party statements in adding value to corporate environmental reports1.Business strategy and the environment,9(1), pp.1-23. Cooper, SM Owen, DL 2007, Corporate social reporting and stakeholder accountability: The missing link, Accounting, Organizations and Society, vol. 32, no.7-8, pp. 649-667. De Villiers, C, Rinaldi, l Unerman, J 2014,Integrated Reporting: Insights, gaps and an agenda for future research, Accounting, Auditing Accountability Journal, vol. 27, no. 7, pp. 1042 1067. Eccles, R.G., Krzus, M.P., Rogers, J. and Serafeim, G., 2012. The need for sector?specific materiality and sustainability reporting standards.Journal of Applied Corporate Finance,24(2), pp.65-71. Frost, G., 2005. A survey of sustainability reporting practices of Australian reporting entities.Australian Accounting Review,15(35), pp.89-96 Gray, RH 2006,Social, environmental and sustainability reporting and organizational value creation? Whose value? Whose creation?, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 793- Hopwood, A 2009, Accounting and the Environment, Accounting, Organizations and Society ,vol. 34, no. 3-4, pp. 433-439. Lodhia, S 2013,Sustainability Accounting and Reporting: An Overview, Contemporary Developments and Research Possibilities, in G Wells (ed.), Sustainable Business: Theory and Practice of Business under Sustainability Principles, Edward Elgar, United Kingdom, pp. 73-86 Lodhia, S 2012, Need for effective CSR/Sustainability regulation in S Jones J Ratnatunga (eds.), Contemporary Issues in Sustainability Accounting, Assurance and Reporting, Emerald Publishing, London, pp. 139-152 Parkin S, (2003), Accounting for Sustainability, Forum for the Future, Severn Printing, pp. 7-22. Rinaldi, L., Unerman, J. Tilt, C. 2014,The role of stakeholder engagement and dialogue within the sustainability accounting and reporting process', in J Beggington, J Unerman B O Dwyer (eds), Sustainability accounting and accountability, 2nd ed., Routledge, New York, pp. 86-107.